The problem I am researching and hoping to impact is: Many students don't enjoy writing in science. They write very little and incomplete sentences. Their writing does not show very deep thinking.
DATA COLLECTION:
So far I have collected the 5th grade open response MCAS scores for our present 6th grade class. I have analyzed the scores and find the data supports my observations stated in the problem above. I analyzed the data for all 100 6th graders. Open response questions are scored from 0 for no response to 4 for a complete response. You will see our students need help answering open response questions.
At first I was going to work with the entire 100 students in the 6th grade. However that was going to prove very time consuming since I only see the students once a week. I decided to select the top tracked class because I felt it would make the most impact on overall school scores because most of those students scored in the 2-3 range.
I collected one more piece of data by having the students take a Writing Attitude Survey. The survey consisted of 28 statements about writing. Students read the statement then circled a Garfield the cat that best fit their feeling about the statement. See the sample below.
Results of the Writing Attitude Survey are in the graph below. A score of 4 is given to the Very Happy Garfield, 3 for the OK Garfield, 2 for Negative Garfield and 1 for Angry Garfield. Tallying the survey, I obtained the raw scores below. The highest score a student could get is 112.
The Writing Attitude Survey provided a chart to find the percentile from the raw scores. Any students who scored below the 50th percentile should be given remedial writing to help improve their writing attitude. Below is a graph showing the percentiles. You will see, we have a great need for remedial help in writing.
RESEARCH:
I read many articles about motivating students to write in science. I have been collecting strategies and techniques that I plan to use over the 3rd semester that hopefully will encourage better writing. I learned a great deal about personalizing science writing, shared writing, and much more. One very helpful book was Page Keeley's book, "Science Formative Assessment 75 Pratical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction and Learning."
I will post other resources I've used in my research.
Here is the Power Point I will present at the call-back meeting of The World is Flat on 2/4/10.
The problem I am researching and hoping to impact is: Many students don't enjoy writing in science. They write very little and incomplete sentences. Their writing does not show very deep thinking.
DATA COLLECTION:
So far I have collected the 5th grade open response MCAS scores for our present 6th grade class. I have analyzed the scores and find the data supports my observations stated in the problem above. I analyzed the data for all 100 6th graders. Open response questions are scored from 0 for no response to 4 for a complete response. You will see our students need help answering open response questions.
At first I was going to work with the entire 100 students in the 6th grade. However that was going to prove very time consuming since I only see the students once a week. I decided to select the top tracked class because I felt it would make the most impact on overall school scores because most of those students scored in the 2-3 range.
I collected one more piece of data by having the students take a Writing Attitude Survey. The survey consisted of 28 statements about writing. Students read the statement then circled a Garfield the cat that best fit their feeling about the statement. See the sample below.
Results of the Writing Attitude Survey are in the graph below. A score of 4 is given to the Very Happy Garfield, 3 for the OK Garfield, 2 for Negative Garfield and 1 for Angry Garfield. Tallying the survey, I obtained the raw scores below. The highest score a student could get is 112.
The Writing Attitude Survey provided a chart to find the percentile from the raw scores. Any students who scored below the 50th percentile should be given remedial writing to help improve their writing attitude. Below is a graph showing the percentiles. You will see, we have a great need for remedial help in writing.
RESEARCH:
I read many articles about motivating students to write in science. I have been collecting strategies and techniques that I plan to use over the 3rd semester that hopefully will encourage better writing. I learned a great deal about personalizing science writing, shared writing, and much more. One very helpful book was Page Keeley's book, "Science Formative Assessment 75 Pratical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction and Learning."
I will post other resources I've used in my research.
Here is the Power Point I will present at the call-back meeting of The World is Flat on 2/4/10.